Just as the weather turned chilly some of Scotland’s most iconic statues dressed a little more warmly than usual. Children’s charity CHILDREN 1ST launched their annual Kilts for Kids Day campaign by dressing statues across Scotland in our national dress.
In Edinburgh, Sir Walter Scott now sits proudly on the Scott Monument on Princes Street sporting a tartan sash and Greyfriars Bobby has his very own tailor-made tartan coat and scarf, specially designed by Geoffrey (Tailor) Kiltmakers. Comic strip characters also joined in the fun with Desperate Dan sporting a kilt and sash in Dundee and Glasgow favourite Lobey Dosser now wears a tartan scarf.
Mafe Marwick, Head of Fundraising & Communications for CHILDREN 1ST said:-
“In previous years Kilts for Kids Day has resulted in people across Scotland donning tartan and helping to raise money for the charity so it seemed appropriate that some of our most iconic statues should get involved too. After we ‘tartanised’ the statues they were certainly drawing attention from the public with many stopping to take photos.
“We’d like to thank all the councils who gave us permission to dress their statues and we hope it inspires the public to help us raise funds for the most vulnerable children in Scotland for Kilts for Kids Day which takes place on Friday 26 November.”
Kilts for Kids Day is an annual major fundraising event for CHILDREN 1ST that sees hundreds of people across Scotland holding Scottish-themed events to raise money for the most vulnerable children in Scotland. This will be the third year in a row that the event has taken place and to date it has raised over £175,000. It is always held on the Friday before St Andrews Day. Many schools and businesses across Scotland have already contacted the charity to let them know that they are going to be participating in this year’s event.
Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture and Leisure Convenor for the City of Edinburgh Council, said:-“When CHILDREN 1ST contacted us about their idea of giving our monuments to Sir Walter Scott and Greyfriars Bobby the ‘tartan treatment’ in aid of Kilts for Kids Day, we were delighted to help out. Requests involving any of our historic monuments need very careful consideration before we can agree to them – in this case, we worked very closely with the charity from the outset to ensure that the statues were protected. Kilts for Kids Day is an excellent and very worthwhile initiative and this Council is proud to support it.”
